Alright to start I am new to any of this, I've never put aftermarket upgrades into any gun before, but I would like to start. This all got kinda started when I went to the range today and found out they have .22 LR matches there so I was thinking that maybe I should upgrade a lot of the parts on my 10/22 and I'll have a decent gun to use in competitions.

Now I have no idea what manufacturers for the parts are good, or where to even look to get theses parts at a good price. So I'm hoping you guys can help me out with a lot of this. I got this Ruger 10/22 carbine off this site when they were giving it to a lucky person. I haven't gotten to shoot it too much since I haven't been at home since I am still a college student, but summer is approaching and I would like to start turning this thing into something I can bring to a competition. I don't plan on doing this all at once, this will probably be something I do gradually over time.

Now on to the good stuff. In order of most important to me to least this is what I want to do to my gun:

1) First and foremost, I want to change that trigger around, that has way too much pull before it goes off. From what I've read before I just have to replace the hammer.

2) Next I would like to put a heavier barrel on there. If possible too longer than the stock barrels.

3) Sights are another big one, I would like to get a peephole sight for the rear sight, and if possible a target sight for the front. I am on the rifle team at my school and I'm used to having the two circle target sights. I'm not sure what type of sights the place near me allows so I'll have to call them to get more info.

4) Stock isn't too important but I would be nice to get a better quality and more comfortable stock.

There are other things that I would like to replace, but not too sure where they would fall on importance or how much of a performance increase I would see, things like the receiver, trigger system, maybe the firing pin.

Any help is more than welcome, sites where I can buy this stuff from, manufactures that I should buy from and ones I should absolutely avoid.

First, ask read-up and ask questions in couple of other forums- Rimfire Central and the Ruger Forum. They have specific forums dedicated to the 10/22.

I just completed what turned out to be a custom build. I started with a stock rifle and up-graded the trigger block. What I ultimately ended up with was two trigger blocks- one Timney and one Kidd two stage. The Kidd trigger is by far much better than the Timney, but the Timiney is a vast improvement over the Ruger trigger block. For the barrel, I absolutely love the Kidd Match barrel (.920 bull barrel). Keep in mind the bull barrels are not machined to accommodate iron sights of any kind. I may be wrong, but the only barrels that accommodate iron sights- front sight on the barrel- is the stock Ruger barrel.You'll need a one-piece scope base and quality scope. The stock IS IMPORTANT. You'll need to float the barrel for better accuracy, and the stocks of "ordinary" 10/22 will not accommodate the bull barrel.

Again, read and ask questions in the forums dedicated to the 10/22 if you intend to do 10/22 upgrades.

Keep in mind, you can sink a bunch of money into a 10/22 upgrade/ build in no time flat. Without going into details, I've got $1200 plus or minus $50 in my 10/22. If you want a good target rifle, consider a bolt gun, I recommend considering as CZ 452 Varmint or American, or it's replacement, CZ 455 Varmint or American. You may also want to look a a used Marlin bolt rifle manufactured in North Haven Conn. My personal preference over a Savage- I own two, don't really care for either one-just my preference.